Canada tables bill to halt MAID expansion for mental illness, decriminalize advance requests

The Canadian federal government tabled legislation on Tuesday that, if passed, would halt the scheduled March 17, 2027, expansion of euthanasia access to an individual solely experiencing a mental illness and decriminalize advance requests for medical assistance in dying (MAID).

Bill C-41, the MAID Safeguards Act, would amend the Criminal Code to protect practitioners from prosecution “for culpable homicide or administering a noxious thing” to provide MAID to patients who consent in advance to receiving the procedure if they are diagnosed with an illness expected to cause them to lose decision-making capacity in the future. The applicant must prepare the request with the assistance of a medical or nurse practitioner.

The legislation states that MAID cannot be carried out until the patient has lost all capacity to grant consent for euthanasia, is experiencing unbearable suffering, and is in a state of irreversible decline.

According to the text of the legislation, a practitioner cannot administer a MAID substance based on an advance request if the patient “demonstrates, by words, sounds or gestures, refusal or resistance to have the substance administered to them.” If the…